Princess P

Silly, sassy, sweet. My big girl is so grown up!

Sibling Love

Little boy!

Messes, grins, mischief.... I sure do love this boy!

Parkerisms.

Parker: "when did you met daddy?"
Me: "when I was in college"
Parker: "cause you were looking for a boy?"
Me: yep! I guess I was.
Parker: "and you saw daddy and said 'that one looks perfect!'"

What is love?

This is on Parker's classroom door at school. Bottom frame is zoomed in on Parker's answer to the question "What is love?" Pretty deep response for a 4 year old!

A dose of cuteness

So my last few posts have been pretty full of WORDS but nothing cute! For the 3 people who actually read this, I decided I needed to throw in a little dose of adorable!!!

Obedience.

Sometimes obedience means doing things we don't want to do.
Sometimes obedience means NOT doing things we want to do.
Sometimes it is trusting that God has all of the little details taken care of.
Sometimes it is trusting that God has all of the BIG details taken care of too.
Sometimes it is easy.
Sometimes it is so, so hard.
Always it is worth it.

Obedience for our little family looks like stepping out in faith and leaving the church we have been a part of for almost 7 years, not knowing where we will go now. It hasn't been easy. But I trust that it will be so, so good.

2 Chronicles 20:12- We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.

11 Questions

The precious Ashlee at Blessed Chick tagged me in this post and requested that I answer these same questions! So, here goes!

1. What are your biggest pet peeves, not including traffic issues?

This is hard, because most of my pet peeves are traffic related!! I guess I'd have to go with people who "play dumb" to get out of things and people who act over-entitled.

2. If you could go on an all-expense paid vacation & take one person, who would you take & where would you go?

I would love to either take a cruise or go to an all-inclusive resort with the hubs! We've never been on a vacation alone other than our honeymoon, and neither of us have been on either of those types of vacation!

3. If you could do anything you wanted for your next birthday, what would you do? (Money is no object & everything is okay to eat!)
Sleep late, Split Decision breakfast from IHOP, shopping, lunch at La Madeleine's, nap, movie, dinner at Ruth's Chris or Sullivan's...

4. What is your favorite play or musical? If you do not have one, how are we friends? (Totally kidding. I don't watch football, it all evens out!)
Children of Eden holds a special place in my heart!!!! I also love Bye, Bye Birdie and Les Miserables.

4. What are some of your favorite girl names? Favorite boy names?
Other than my own kids' names...
Girl- Bradlee Jane, Kyle Olivia
Boy- Beau, Easton, Kellan

5. What is the biggest lesson you have learned in life? God's plans are so much better than mine!

6. What is your favorite recipe? (Link please!)
I don't have a link, but "crack dip"... One 16 oz container sour cream (you cannot use light, it won't mix properly), 1 packet hidden valley ranch dressing mix, shredded cheddar cheese, bacon bits to your heart's desire. So amazing! Serve with corn chips or potato chips, yum!

7. What is the last book you read? Did you enjoy it?
The newest Karen Kingsbury book, Longing. SO good! All of her books are amazing!!

8. Who is your favorite author or speaker?
Author- Karen Kingsbury (Christian fiction)
Speaker(s)- Beth Moore (ah-mazing!!), Christine Caine (seriously y'all. Heard her speak on the Passion live stream... Talk about powerful), Louie Giglio

9. Which bloggie friends do you hope to meet in real life?
I don't know if I can call them "friends" since they have no idea I exist... But... Kelly from Kelly's Korner... I adore her! And Ashley from Lil Blue Boo.. Want to talk about someone who puts "Choose Joy" in a new perspective?? Also Kristin from Lu Bird Baby... I'm pretty sure if we lived in the same town, we would be friends!!

10. What is your nervous habit?
I tend to scratch/rub my neck/throat area. There will be days when I have a long day at work and my students ask "Why are you all red?" it's that bad.

11. What do you hope will happen (that could happen!) in 2012? Vacation with the hubs, get plugged in to new ministry

I'm supposed to tag 11 more people...but I don't think I really know 11 other blog buddies. I'll just leave it as an open invitation to whoever may want to do this! :)

Tough stuff< Jesus

This week has been emotionally exhausting for a variety of reasons. Most of them revolve around watching several coworkers walk through some extremely difficult circumstances. But in the midst of that, it has been extremely, extremely awesome to see our faculty come together for one another, even in prayer! (one of my coolest experiences in my 7 years of teaching-- after receiving bad news at a faculty meeting, about 35 of us stayed after the meeting, joined hands, and cried out to the Lord on behalf of another. So awesome!)

All that to say: Jesus is so much bigger. "Our God is greater. Our God is stronger. God, you are higher than any other! Our God is healer; awesome in power! Our God!" No matter what junk we are walking through (either personally or walking along side someone else), He is enough. Always. And in Him is so much freedom. I'm so glad for the work He's currently doing in my heart.

Passion 2012

Back in 2003 I had the privilege of attending the Passion OneDay conference in Sherman, Texas. That seems like an eternity ago, but I still remember the profound impact it had on my life.

So naturally, I am THRILLED that my sister is at the Passion 2012 conference going on in Atlanta right now. Due to the wonders of technology, I have been able to watch some of the live stream and have been completely blown away. I want to share some of the "notes" I jotted down from Christine Caine this afternoon, on the subject of Passion's "Do Something Now" which is raising money for the fight against human trafficking (more about this in a future post.) I am mostly writing this post for myself, but I hope some of the truth in it will speak to someone else!

*When divine interruptions happen, lives are transformed.

*Jesus often interrupts our very normal, mundane moments in order to speak to us to transform our lives.

*The only thing that Jesus Christ went to the cross for was PEOPLE. (Luke 10:30)

*Compassion is never compassion until you cross the street and go... and do something now... until you get involved, until you allow yourself to be interrupted.

*Heaven was interrupted to send Jesus from Heaven to Earth for each one of us.

*If we are crippled and we are broken, then we can't help anybody else, but we who have been rescued have a responsibility to rescue lost and broken people. We have hope. His name is Jesus and that Jesus lives on the inside of us and he sends us to a lost and broken world to bring hope and restoration.

*We are saved. By grace. For a purpose. There are works that God prepared for us before we ever got to earth.

*Freedom is the goal of Christianity.

*As if somehow the purpose of life is to die safely! We don't need to fear what He defeated!

*IT IS FOR FREEDOM THAT CHRIST SET US FREE and we will stand on NOTHING LESS in our generation.

*Light works most effectively in the darkness. We just need to take the light that's inside of us to dispel the darkness...

IT IS FOR FREEDOM JESUS SET US FREE!

More coming on this subject; it's where my heart is right now.

"Motto" for 2012

Let me start from the beginning.

Over the summer, I had the privilege of attending a training based on the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.  Our school system's goal is to adopt these principles district-wide.  One of the things that we were encouraged to do was to write our own personal "Mission Statement"... something simple that would reflect a deeper goal or set of goals.  I battled on this for a long time, and finally decided to make writing my mission statement the basis of my "motto" for 2012.

So, here's what it means...

CHOOSE JOY- For a long time, I have loved this simple phrase. But this year, I want to LIVE it instead of just "love it"... I want to look at all of life's situations and choose JOY, no matter how difficult the circumstances may be.  Choosing joy doesn't necessarily mean that I have a goal to always be HAPPY.  There's a difference.  Joy is deeper rooted than happiness.  As Psalm 30:11 says, "You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy."  True joy comes from knowing that God is in control.


HAVE TIME- This one is going to be the most difficult for me.  I'm really guilty of thinking "I just don't have time for.... (fill in the blank)." This part of my "mission statement" is to have time for the things that are truly important-- a daily quiet time, time with my children, time with my husband, time to focus on being a better teacher and friend.  


MAKE MEMORIES- This is my reminder that sometimes I just need to SLOW DOWN and enjoy the moment instead of trying to make it perfect.  It ties hand in hand with the first two-- looking for those special things to remember in the day to day, and having the time to enjoy them when they come along.  

2012

I'm a terrible blogger! I feel like 2011 was a total whirlwind and this poor blog was completely neglected. 2011 brought many great things for our little family, including our sweet Jude Morrison and a wonderful new job for the hubs. As great as it was, I am so looking forward to what 2012 has in store for us.

A few resolutions:
1. I have chosen a "motto" for this year. Look for a blog makeover soon that will incorporate these things: CHOOSE JOY, HAVE TIME, MAKE MEMORIES. (post to come soon on how I came up with this and what it means!)
2. Blog more. In addition to hopefully keeping up with this blog more, I am also using an app to do the 365 photo challenge!
3. Read to the kids (at least to Parker) every day! Before 2012 ends, my little girl will be in kindergarten!! I want to spend more time reading to her/working on her academic skills.
4. Date my husband. (more on this later)
5. Have a more consistent quiet time.

I am sure there are other things I will purpose myself to doing this year, but these are my year-long resolutions. (I also have a goal to lose a specific amount of weight by our anniversary in April!)

Here's to 2012 and all God has in store!!

New posts!!

This blog is so sadly neglected.
I just put up a series of new posts at allenfamilylsu.blogspot.com
Probably going to get rid of this blog and just keep that one now...

Thankful Thursday

It's been a while since I've blogged.

So I figure, why not post two times in one day. If you didn't listen to the song in the post below, you should. Because it's beautiful.

So now I'll go with Things I'm Thankful For.... You know, since it's Thursday. And Thankful Thursday is a catchy post title.

Trent
Parker
My extended family
God's faithfulness
My job
Good friends
Family photos... especially my mustard.seed ones
Good coworkers
Cooler weather! Finally!
High school football (yes, I did just say that)
My students
Sushi
Candy corn
my Paula Deen Creme Brulee candle

What a Savior - Laura Story

We've started singing this song at church recently, and I LOVE IT!

Home Away from Home

Back to school! This means I spend almost more of my waking hours in S210 than at home!! After a LONG summer full of construction on our campus, we were finally able to get back in the building a week before the start of school and get things set back up. BIG, BIG, HUGE thanks to my mom for helping me in my room, and my dad and mother-in-law who did their share of Parker-watching to make this happen. I did a complete "makeover" in my classroom.... which looked amazing before I put anything on the walls simply because they replaced my 1970's orange carpet with glorious white tile!

Here are a few shots:

The Alma Mater banner

Powercat

I'm (eventually) going to have all of my students write/draw/color their name on a 3x5 card, and hang the cards up with this banner

The blank panel now says "We are CENTRAL" in big block letters. I need to take a new pic.

View of the room from the door

Student computers (only one works, by the way!)

Spirit Ribbon Banners- a tradition I started my first year at Central, and the kids LOVE it.

My desk from the back of the room

My cute name sign-- one of my summer art projects

I started these two boards last year- pics of and from my students, going all the way back to my first year at ZHS! :)

Desk- it is a HUGE mess now, haha

View of the room from my desk

The only "change" other than the one maroon panel is a big banner on the back wall that says "We were born to succeed, not to fail." (H.D. Thoreau)

So far, it is a GREAT school year. My new kids are awesome; my new co-teacher is working out beautifully; I have a great schedule. All in all, life at CHS is good!! :)

(Check out our Allen Family Blog for pics of Princess P's CHS spirit.)

Vacation?

So I decided to deactivate my facebook for a while. This is a huge deal for me because, quite honestly, I am way too "addicted" to facebook!

I just needed a break. Now that I'm back in school, I find myself using facebook as an excuse to not do schoolwork. It also walks a fine line of distracting me from time I could/should be spending with Parker and Trent. So... I'm on facebook vacation. Not sure how long. Hopefully my break there will help out my blogging frequency. I need to get back in to writing something other than a status anyway!!

So here's to one less distraction in life.... Let's see how long it lasts!

Starry Night

We heard this song while we were out on the boat on False River last weekend, and I think we've listened to it about 87 times since then! I love what it says...

Starry Night- Chris August

From the Birds that Sing, In the Tallest Trees.
To the Human Life, of you and me.
From the Desert Sands, to the place we stand.
He is God of All, He is Everything.

I'm giving my life to the only one who makes the Moon reflect the sun.
Every Starry Night, that was His design.
I'm giving my life to the only son, who was and is and yet to come
Let the praises ring, 'cause he is everything
'Cause he is everything

From the Autumn Leaves, that will ride the breeze
To the Faith it takes, to pray and sing
From the Painted sky, to my plank filled eye
He is God of all, He is everything

I'm giving my life to the only one who makes the Moon reflect the sun
On that Starry Night, He changed my life.
I'm giving it all to the only son who gave me hope when I had none.
So let the praises ring,
Ohhhh Let the Praises Ring

I'm giving my life to the only one who makes the Moon reflect the sun.
Every Starry Night, that was His design.
I'm giving my life to the only son, who was and is and yet to come
Let the Angels sing, that he is Heavenly

So let the Praises ring
'Cause he everything

So Long, Insecurity?

One of my favorite things about the summer is the fact that I get to attend our church's Stay-At-Home-Moms Bible study. The women who meet each week are as diverse as can be, and each one has a beautiful testimony of the Lord's faithfulness, unique gifts and talents they use in ministry, and not to mention, pretty cute kids! This summer's study is a journey through Beth Moore's So Long, Insecurity.

Let me start by telling you that the title of the book alone evoked much fear and hesitation in my heart at the beginning of the summer. The fact of the matter is-- I have insecurities. Some of them are extremely silly and could be considered "unfounded"... others come from very real hurts and struggles in my past. I was scared to even do this study because I often find myself "insufficient" in the Lord. Like, I don't read my Bible enough; I don't pray enough; I don't go out doing street evangelism or go on mission trips enough....

While this book has been challenging and eye opening, the Lord has really used this time to affirm in me that He has NOT given me a spirit of fear... He HAS given me everything I need for life and godliness... He rejoices over me with singing...

The lesson may be difficult, but His truths have been SO CLEAR. I am by no means at all "there" in being totally secure... but I am wholeheartedly embracing the Lord's truth in my life, and that has been so freeing. I cannot wait to see what He has in store for my heart and the women walking through this with me.

But as with anything in life, it seems that as the Lord does a great work in my heart.... the Enemy tests my faith. It has been wonderful to see God's hand at work in these trials and tests.... but whoever out there is praying for patience for me... you can stop now! Ha!

Show Us Your Life- Favorite Bible Verses

I've been reading Kelly's blog for a long time, and finally decided I'd participate in her Friday "Show Us Your Life".... this one is easy for me! Yet hard to narrow down!! Go to Kelly's blog to see other posts! :)

My favorite Bible verses RIGHT NOW....

"Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked." ~Psalm 84:10

*This verse has been a favorite since high school... because truly, better is one day with Him than a thousand without Him!

"The Lord your God is with you; He is mighty to save! He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing!" ~Zephaniah 3:7

*Even though I don't understand it, I totally love that MY God could be delighted in ME!

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." ~2 Peter 1:3

There are so many things about this verse.... HIS divine power... EVERYTHING we need... CALLED US by his own glory and goodness. Love it.